to describe the music of crowded house is to describe pure emotion... of all kinds. the best description i have found was on the jacket of the CD of the ’best of...’ collection... a note by a
fan in which he describes ’crowded house moments’... certain points in songs which hit like a bucket of cold water poured on the bean... every ch fan has his list of ch moments.. some share moments and these are so intimate that they almost form a bonding.. even simple lines such as ’no time no place to talk about the weather... promise of love is hard to ignore’, sung in that distinctly melodious voice of neil finn make your hair stand straight- a crowded house moment!!
the music is the kind that grows on you... and into you, until it is in your very veins... rising up to give goose bumps everytime you listen to neil finn inflect his songs in a way only he can. that peculiar change in tune, choice of instruments, melody and lyrics- distinctly ch.
the collection ’recurring dream: the very best of crowded house’ is really good... a good place to start and get acquainted if you are new to crowded house.. for it gives you all the easier to catch crowded house numbers and give you a feel of their music. ’dont dream its over’ would be familiar to many. check out ’private universe’ (one of my fav. tracks), ’distant sun’, ’better be home soon’, ’four seasons in one day’. all great tracks.
my fist album (and my pick) was ’woodface’ (now available in bombay)... except for the first track ’chocolate cake’, which is the only ch song i dislike, the album is worth its weight in gold. but give it some time... the songs on side ’a’ of the tape grow on you faster, but the ones on ’b’ once taken in, live with you for a long time. check out tracks ’how will you go’, ’all i ask’, ’as sure as i am’, ’fall at your feet’, ’whispers and moans’.. apart from the already very famous ’weather with you’.
the album ’afterglow’ has a great version of ’private universe’... more instrumental. also check out songs ’help is coming’ and ’lester’, the latter about his dog.
the album ’temple of low men’ is another good album... although the music is a lot more intense and takes some time to get into... ’into temptation’, ’better be home soon’ and ’sister madly’ being some of the better tracks.
all in all, this great band from new zealand (although both the finn brothers are irish by decent... what is it with the irish and good music?!) is a haven for people trying to escape from boy/band bands with little talent, with peppy numbers which catch on fast but are forgotten faster. although the band has long broken up, neil finn keeps coming up with some great solo efforts like ’try whistling this’ and ’one nil’ (check out a song called ’wherever you are’ in the latter album)... both brilliant.
if you are new to crowded house, hope you try them, like them, live them and join the almost elusive cult fan following... and if you are already fan, do get in touch.
cheers
sandeep